I’ve seen a lot of people jump into content creation, thinking they are going to at least replace a full-time income. It’s something that I see very frequently on platforms like Twitch and YouTube. The problem is that a lot of these people do so without having clear priorities set.
In most cases, the creator quits because the income just wasn’t there. They are misguided by popular and successful creators, thinking that they, too, can make bank and buy fancy cars and huge houses.
In reality, it’s a small percentage of folks who will reach those levels of success and pull in a decent amount of money. In fact, about 96% of YouTubers will make about $12,000 per year. And, you guessed it, that’s not enough to live on.
If you approach becoming a content creator with a different mindset, though, you can increase your chances of becoming successful. Mostly, it comes down to prioritizing your life and treating the content like a part-time gig.
How I Set Priorities as a Content Creator and Blogger
Yes, there are some creators out there who can pull in a lot of money from donations, Super Chats, memberships, and more. But when you look at those individuals, they all have one thing in common: they built a dedicated audience.
Depending on the creator, it can take anywhere from six to 18 months of consistent streaming and great engagement to even reach 50 concurrent viewers on Twitch. In the meantime, bills need to be paid.
In other words, don’t expect to bring in enough to pay your rent for about a year and a half.
It’s best to approach it more like a part-time job. What I mean by that is setting aside a few hours every day to build your brand while attending to your other priorities. Use your primary job to keep the lights on, but add content creation as a side gig.
So, what priorities do I have, and how do I address being a blogger, writer, and YouTuber?
- College Classes
- An Actual Job
- Content Creation
Priority 1: Attending College for My Degree
My education comes first. Mostly, that’s because I have so many loans out right now that I don’t want it to be a waste of money. Now, this doesn’t mean that I skip out on work to make sure an assignment is done. However, that does mean college comes before anything fun or extra.
In some ways, continuing college benefits my content creation. For instance, I share everything I learn through various blogs and YouTube channels. The more I learn, the more content I can create.
So, it’s in my best interest to keep the schooling alive as much as possible. I am turning my education into dollars, in a sense. I’m not getting rich from the content, but it’s something that pads the AdSense account a bit.
Priority 2: Working an Actual Job
If I don’t have a roof over my head, everything else is a lot more difficult to manage. At this point, I am looking for any kind of work just so I can get a place to live. Making videos is so much easier if I can do so from my desk.
While this means I have less time for content creation, it does mean that I have somewhere warm and safe to sleep at night. Besides, it’s not like I can get Quantum Fiber to run an Internet line to my tent in a campground.
Stability has to come first. I’d rather work a menial job and have a decent apartment than be homeless with my smartphone. Not to mention that attending online classes is so much easier from an apartment or house.
Priority 3: Creating the Content
After the job and school are taken care of, I’ll start working on the content. Remember, I don’t need a new blog post or video every day. A single, well-developed and high-quality piece can take a channel or website quite far in terms of visibility.
This includes my books. I’d love to be a full-time author. But in reality, the median income for self-published authors is just $12,749 per year. If you break that down as a full-time job, the average author makes about $6.11 per hour. That’s assuming you work Monday through Friday.
In any case, it takes a lot of marketing to pull in enough to live on as a self-published author. That’s why most of us also have jobs or are supported by a significant other’s income.
What If You Don’t Have Enough Time?
Success is mostly about quality over quantity. A single high-value piece of content can generate more views and income than an entire library of videos few people want to watch.
There is a YouTube channel that I stumbled across called Uncharted Depths. They make 10-minute videos once or twice per week about the deep ocean. If my channel had its viewership, I would clear close to $350,000 per year in ad revenue alone. That is the power of just two, high-quality, 10-minute videos per week.
And Uncharted Depths has fewer than 30k subscribers.
In other words, you don’t need a lot of time to grind out a ton of content, especially if you’re creating something a lot of people want to consume. A lot of successful channels today started off with a single video per week and expanded as time permitted.
The trick is to not convince yourself that you’ll get rich from content creation. When the payout isn’t there, it’s easy to feel frustrated, which leads to giving up. It can take more than a year to really gain traction on any platform. You have to be patient with yourself and not expect a windfall of cash with each post or video.
The bottom line is, no, you don’t have to invest a lot of time in the week to produce a great piece of content that can get the ball rolling. Focus on quality and ease into the process of becoming a content creator.
Scheduling Part-Time Content Work
If you want to be a blogger or other content creator, schedule “part-time” hours. These are hours you can afford to use for your content throughout the day. Instead of binge-watching something on Hulu, you’ll spend that time working on your brand.
I try to schedule two to four hours per day to work on blogs, books, and videos. It doesn’t always work that way, especially over the last couple of months. But I always schedule the time in Asana and treat it as an actual part-time job. Doing so gives the process urgency for me and helps me stay focused.
I go so far as to break down how much I make per hour as a content creator in a spreadsheet…because I’m a dork.
Watching the Analytics
Keep an eye on the analytics of your content platform. The goal is constant growth regardless of the size. Nearly every platform has a way to monitor the content and show you what is working best with your audience. Double down on that kind of content if it works for you.
Just make sure that you’re looking at the numbers while being consistent with publishing the content. If your numbers start to drop after a month of not uploading videos, that’s not a very good comparison of how well you’re doing.
For example, my goal is to have more visitors to this blog every week compared to the one before. To do that, I need to make sure I’m creating content people might want to read. Always keep in mind that you can’t force people to consume your content. You can, however, hedge your bets with content people want to consume.
Consistency Is Vital as a Content Creator
Consistency is a crucial element to becoming a successful creator, whether you’re blogging or making videos on TikTok. Not only does it signal search engines that your platform is active, but people like being able to rely on content from their favorite creators.
Case in point, I have quite a few people who subscribe to this blog, or otherwise follow it from WordPress.com’s reader system. To keep those individuals interested, I try to publish content they might want to read every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 9:30 am. The result is a few instant views before Google even indexes the page.
Recently, I’ve gone so far as to challenge myself to be consistent with publishing blog posts. That’s because I’ve seen firsthand what consistent publishing can do for both blogs and YouTube channels. And it doesn’t take an extreme amount of content to gain an audience.
Now, not all of my blog posts hit the audience the same. Some topics fall flat and are virtually ignored by the masses. But sometimes, I’ll publish something that seems to get everyone’s attention rather quickly.
No matter what, though, the people and search engines know when to expect a new blog post. And as soon as I am more stable in my new home, the plan is to do something similar for the YouTube channel. That is, as long as I have the time. Remember, school and work come first.
Prioritize Your Overhead First as a Content Creator
At the end of the day, you want to prioritize having a roof over your head before going all-in as a content creator. Whether you’re blogging, making YouTube videos, streaming on Twitch, or uploading videos to TikTok, you’re not going to become an overnight sensation.
Keep your day job until you’re consistently bringing in enough money to quit. Then, use that time to expand what you can offer your audience. Whatever you do, though, don’t quit a guaranteed thing for faint potential.
I’ve literally seen people have to move back in with their parents or quit creating content altogether because they thought they would become the next Joe Rogan. Build your brand while getting a paycheck from your current job.
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